North Korea should immediately reveal the whereabouts and well-being of nine North Korean refugees who were forced back to Pyongyang from Beijing on May 28 according to media reports, Human Rights Watch said today, emphasizing that the government must ensure that they are not punished for having fled the country.

A year ago, South Korea announced at the 19th International AIDS Conference that it had eliminated immigration regulations that discriminated against people living with HIV and prevented them from entering, living, and working in the country. But that announcement, celebrated at the meeting of more than 20,000 scientists, presidents, business leaders and grass-roots activists from around the globe, hardly tells the full story.

North Korea should immediately reveal the whereabouts and well-being of nine North Korean refugees who were forced back to Pyongyang from Beijing on May 28 according to media reports, Human Rights Watch said today, emphasizing that the government must ensure that they are not punished for having fled the country.

On the eve of the 63rd anniversary of the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are writing to express to you our deep concern for the ongoing human rights abuses suffered by the people of North Korea, and the lack of action by the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly to address these conditions.

The United States should press for greater transparency and accountability in the global financial system at the G20 Summit meeting in Seoul, a coalition of civil society organizations said today. The G20 Advocacy Coalition brings together varied organizations that share the view that increased transparency is essential to promoting economic development, alleviating poverty, and realizing enjoyment of economic and social rights.

A sense of deja vu emanated from recent South-North border events: another imprisoned American left the North with a former U.S. president, and another South Korean was arrested upon return from the North for violating the National Security Law.

In most countries, the typical penalty for an immigration offense like illegal entry is arrest, short-term detention and ultimately deportation, sometimes accompanied by a fine. But in North Korea, the penalty can be a lengthy prison term and a huge fine.

Imagine if the United Nations took money from Kim Jong-il and established a human rights award in his honor. No doubt many member states would be up in arms protesting such an outright mockery of the words “human rights.”